With there being at most two games left in the playoffs and the Canucks just one win away from winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, the debate over who the playoffs’ most valuable player is raging. With so many stellar performances throughout the playoffs going on and culminating into the Stanley Cup finals we’ve seen a number of players raise their game in the postseason. The one guy who might win the Conn Smythe Trophy might just get it whether or not his team wins the Cup or not – Boston’s Tim Thomas has been just that good.

Thomas’ consistency through the finals has helped keep the Bruins in the three games they’ve lost and in the two games he’s won against Vancouver he’s played brilliantly including a shutout in Game 4. That kind of play has been a microcosm of how he’s played throughout the playoffs though. His numbers in these playoffs are stellar with a 2.07 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.

That said, if the Bruins lose in six games to Vancouver, can it be justifiable to give him the playoff MVP award when he couldn’t even get his team to a seventh game in the finals? That might be the debate we end up having late Monday night if the Canucks end the series in Boston.

We’ve seen goalies take home the Conn Smythe Trophy in modern NHL time when their team has lost but their teams needed to go seven games in the finals to help make it happen. Ron Hextall did it in 1987 for Philadelphia against Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers and Jean-Sebastien Giguere did it for Anaheim against New Jersey in 2003. In 1966 we saw Roger Crozier win the award for Detroit after being bounced in six games from the finals by Montreal in six games. Glenn Hall won it for the St. Louis Blues in 1968 for St. Louis after helping the Blues win the first two rounds in seven games before they were swept from the finals by Montreal. Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach is the only non-goalie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy on a losing team doing so in 1976 when the Flyers were swept by Montreal.

Who from Vancouver could steal the award away from him though? Boston fans will likely hate the choices.

At the top of the list is Roberto Luongo, the guy who said even he could’ve stopped Maxim Lapierre’s lone goal in Game 5. Outside of the two blowouts in the finals, Luongo’s been solid if not brilliant in the playoffs. His numbers pale in comparison to that of Thomas (2.43 goals against average, .919 save percentage) but if he’s the guy that gets to skate the Stanley Cup around after playing so brilliantly for two rounds and for most of the finals, he’d be tough to ignore. If Luongo earned a third shutout in the finals, that might be the only thing to keep Thomas from winning it. Yes the award is for playoffs MVP but three shutouts in the finals would probably be enough to help him win it. That’s asking a lot, however.

Another guy you could look at is Alex Burrows. While he’s had more than his fair share of ridiculous nonsense to take attention from how he’s played, he’s the one guy producing in the finals for Vancouver with two goals and an assist (all in Game 2) and throughout the playoffs he’s been solid earning 17 points including nine goals. He helped Vancouver win Game 2 of the finals on his own and he was a menace against both Nashville and San Jose.

We’d throw Henrik Sedin’s name into the mix as he’s second in the playoffs in scoring (behind Boston’s David Krejci now tops with 22 points, four ahead of teammate Patrice Bergeron) but he’s had zero points in the finals. Tough to be a playoff MVP when you’re not producing when the team needs you the most. The same can be said of Ryan Kesler. Kesler appeared to be the front runner for the award heading into the finals after coming off dominating series against Nashville and San Jose, but he too has disappeared in the finals earning just one assist in Game 1 against Boston. It was a big assist just the same leading to the game’s only goal, but his 19 points in the playoffs may not be enough to get the attention of the voters.

It’s not unprecedented that a losing player can earn the playoff MVP award and it’s not even without prior examples of doing it without going all the way to seven games in the finals to make it happen. Granted it hasn’t happened since 1976, but if you had to lay a bet down on who was going to win the Conn Smythe Trophy the easy money appears to be on Tim Thomas.

What do you think? Is it Thomas’ to lose or is there a Canucks player with a shot at it? Is there a Bruins teammate that’s got a chance to steal it from Thomas? Let us know in the comments and vote in our poll.

–Lightning goalie Ben Bishop is a creature of habit when it comes to his game day meals. One of the things that’s consistent in his diet is the overload of carbs. Bread, pasta and oatmeal, Bishop eats it all on game day. Here’s a deeper look into his diet. (Sports Illustrated)

–Speaking of carbs, did you know that Alex Ovechkin always dreamed of becoming a pizza delivery boy? Okay, maybe not, but this Papa John’s commercial of him failing miserably at being a delivery guy is still pretty funny. (Top)

–The Edmonton Oilers made a huge move last off-season when they shipped Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. The Oilers are currently in first place in the Pacific Division, but that doesn’t mean the trade has worked out well for them. (Sportsnet)

–Wayne Gretzky will appear on an episode of the Simpsons on Sunday evening. NHL.com provides us with a look at his appearance. “People argue about a lot of things, but they never argue about who’s the greatest hockey player. It’s always him,” Al Jean, who’s an executive producer on the show. “I don’t think there is anybody better at anything than Gretzky is as a hockey player. He had a lot of great stories, and it was a real pleasure to meet him.” (NHL)

–Oilers sophomore forward Connor McDavid has been fantastic this season, but “The Great One” still doesn’t think he’s the top player in the NHL. “Is Connor a great player? Absolutely. Does Connor have an opportunity to be the next Crosby? Absolutely. Right now, Sidney deserves to be known as the best player in the game,” Gretzky told ESPN.com.

–Yesterday, we told you that Blackhawks emergency goalie Eric Semborski will be getting his own Topps hockey card. Now, Puck Junk gives us the inside story on how the idea for the card came about. “It all came together pretty quickly,” said Mike Salerno, App Producer of Topps Skate. “We saw the situation in Philadelphia unfold over the weekend and thought it would make for a fun and unique card.” (Puck Junk)

Dave Tippett insists that, even though he suffered an upper-body injury, Max Domi has to play with the sort of edge he showed tonight.

But, yeah, that edge left him bleeding this time around.

As you can see from the video above, Domi and Garnet Hathaway engaged in a fierce fight after a hit by Domi. The Arizona Coyotes forward left the game and didn’t return with an upper-body injury, and is now considered day-to-day. The price of doing business?

Domi grabbed an assist during the game, so maybe this will be the sort of thing that helps him get back on track.

Speaking of back on track, the Flames are now on a five-game winning streak while the Coyotes dropped their sixth in a row as Calgary won 2-1 in overtime. Chad Johnson remains brilliant, Mike Smith keeps getting Arizona points (they may or may not actually want in the long run) and, hey, Dougie Hamilton is still a Flame:

Panthers interim coach Tom Rowe, who replaced Gerard Gallant on Nov. 28, made his home debut. The Panthers have lost five of six under Rowe, but managed a point in three of those losses.

“I thought we showed them way too much respect in the beginning of the game. We were back on our heels a little bit,” Rowe said. “Obviously, they’ve got two of the best players in the world and I think it could have intimidated some of our younger guys a little bit.”

The Panthers have lost six of seven.

“It’s a work in progress, I guess,” Rowe said. “We’ve still got a lot of young guys in the lineup.”

Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead on Crosby’s goal 3:06 in. Crosby snapped a wrist shot from above the right circle that got through several Florida defenders and past Luongo.

Crosby is tied with Boston’s David Pastrnak for the NHL lead in goals.

“With us, we knew that they were going to be motivated,” Crosby said. “They’ve played a lot of close games lately, a lot of overtime games. When you get a new coach, everybody is trying to prove themselves. I think we expected a pretty tough game. It was just nice to get that kind of start.”

The Penguins extended their lead to 2-0 on Sheary’s tally. The initial shot by Sheary missed the net, but the puck came off the end boards and into the crease and was inadvertently kicked across the goal line by Luongo at 4:51. Crosby had an assist on the goal.

“(Crosby) is always the guy that takes the lead,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “His line gets us a couple goals early on and gets us the lead and speaks volumes for the leadership he displays night in and night out.”

Pittsburgh stretched the score to 3-0 when Scott Wilson‘s shot from the right circle deflected off Kuhnhackl and into the net at 7:34. The Panthers unsuccessfully challenged the goal, claiming Kuhnhackl interfered with Luongo.

The Panthers closed to 3-1 on Jagr’s power-play goal. Aleksander Barkov passed from below the right circle to Jagr in the slot, and his one-timer beat Murray at 6:17 of the second.

Cullen gave the Penguins a 4-1 lead at 5:48 of the third when he grabbed a rebound in front and put the puck between the pads of Luongo.

Hagelin added an empty-net goal with 32.9 seconds left to make the score 5-1.

Notes: The Penguins have gone 6-0-2 in their past eight games against the Panthers. … The Penguins sent LW Jake Guentzel and D Derrick Pouliot to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. … Jagr has 1,882 points, putting him six behind Mark Messier for second place on the career list. … Panthers C Jonathan Marchessault missed his third game with a lower-body injury. … Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield attended the game.

Pekka Rinne helped hold the Nashville Predators together when they struggled early and then was there for their recent ascent, but coming into this season, many expected him to be a weakness for his team.

Especially worried types might wonder if “that” Rinne is returning after a tough Thursday performance in the Dallas Stars’ eventual 5-2 win against the Predators.

Rinne allowed four goals on 18 shots before being taken out of the game about six minutes into the second period. One of his best moments was this bit of unintentional comedy: